The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a handsome lead over the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, leading on 192 seats against TMC’s 96. Several known faces of the glamour world — from films, theatre, music industry — were in the fray this year across party lines. Here’s how they fared.
Soham Chakraborty
A well-known face in Bengali films, Soham Chakraborty is a sitting MLA from Chandipur. He was shifted to Nadia’s Karimpur for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. Soham is trailing by 1,843 votes against his opponent Samarendranath Ghosh of the BJP after 14/23 rounds.
Arundhati Lovely Maitra
Arundhati Maitra, also known as Lovely Maitra, contested from Sonarpur Dakshin in South 24 Parganas on a Trinamool ticket. She gained fame through television shows like Jol Nupur and Mohor. Maitra is currently trailing by 25,101 votes to BJP’s Roopa Ganguly after 11/21 rounds.
Roopa Ganguly
Roopa Ganguly, a veteran actress known for playing Draupadi in the 1980s Doordarshan show Mahabharat, is contesting from Sonarpur Dakshin on a BJP ticket. With over four decades in the film industry and a National Award to her name, she also served as a Rajya Sabha MP. She is currently leading over TMC’s Lovely Maitra by 25,101 votes after 11/21 rounds.
Hiran Chatterjee
Hiran Chatterjee, an actor turned politician, is contesting from Shyampur on a BJP ticket. He earlier served as MLA from Kharagpur Sadar. Recently in the news for his marriage to actress Ritika Giri, he is leading over Trinamool’s Nadebasi Jana by 9,601 votes after 11/21 rounds.
Sayantika Banerjee
Sayantika Banerjee is Trinamool’s candidate from Baranagar constituency in North 24 Parganas. She is contesting against BJP’s Sajal Ghosh. While she lost in the 2021 elections, she won the seat in a bypoll in 2024. In the current elections, she is trailing by 13,093 votes after 8/13 rounds.
Raj Chakrabarty
Filmmaker Raj Chakrabarty, who is the sitting MLA of Barrackpur, is currently trailing from the seat against his opponent, BJP’s Kaustuv Bagchi by 13,347 votes after 7/15 rounds. Raj joined politics in 2021 when he joined TMC and won this seat from North 24 Parganas.
Rudranil Ghosh
Rudranil Ghosh, a well-known Bengali actor, is contesting from Shibpur on a BJP ticket. He has been associated with the CPI(M) and TMC in the past. Ghosh is leading by 15,794 votes against TMC’s Rana Chatterjee after 15/19 rounds.
Papia Adhikary
Papia Adhikary is contesting from Tollygunge on a BJP ticket. She is a well known face in films, television and theatre. She is leading by 1,276 votes against TMC’s Aroop Biswas after 9/16 rounds.
Sarbori Mukherjee
Sarbori Mukherjee, another well known face from television, is contesting from Jadavpur on a BJP ticket. She is leading against sitting Trinamool MLA Debabrata Majumder by 16,443 votes after 12/26 rounds.
Aditi Munshi
Aditi Munshi, a popular kirtan singer, is the sitting Trinamool MLA of Rajarhat Gopalpur. Her opponent, BJP’s Tarunjyoti Tiwari is leading by 17,836 votes after 8/14 rounds.
Indranil Sen
Indranil Sen, a veteran singer and a minister in the Trinamool government, is contesting from Chandannagar. He is trailing BJP’s Deepanjan Kumar Guha by 6,828 votes after 11/20 rounds.